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MICHAEL
– December 23, 2002
Good
evening, my children. I am here tonight as one of you, for I am
your brother Jesus, who lived the life of the flesh as you do now
on this planet Urantia that we share together. I am honored that
you are gathered here in the celebration of my life as one of you.
I am filled with compassion, as I view all of my brothers and sisters
and children who celebrate my nativity, who embrace the magic of
this holiday time as the season of peace and joy and light as gifts
to this planet from the Father up above.
Tonight
let your hearts be filled with my peace as you begin to celebrate
my birth. And I ask you to consider the relevance of my birth and
what that means for your life. What is it about my having lived
as a human that you find significant as you pay tribute to me in
this season of light and life?
As
you know, you come into this place on these evenings to gain a greater
strengthening in the bond of kinship that we share. And your brethren
will find it inspirational as you each begin to offer one another
those qualities and those experiences of my life that you find have
particular relevance for your own. So I draw you into a discussion
this evening, which is a somewhat unusual way to celebrate, but
I believe that it will prove to be stimulating for each one of you
to hear the responses of one another, as you reveal more fully to
not only yourself in your answers but to others about the meaning
of my life as it applies to your own.
Come
now into that place where you know of me. And as I walk with you
down the halls of recollection, share with me and with each other
what you find to be inspiring about how I lived and experienced
life as you now experience it. Who would like to begin?
Student:
I will. I have increases in the symptoms of my experiences as a
result of having Parkinson’s. And I [must?] be melodramatic.
I tend to identify most with my affliction. And a few words which
I do not understand and I do understand Father for not forsaking
me. I’d like to know what the message is for me in this, for
the rapid decline in my physical well-being. I called 911 last night.
I checked out okay. I have the Parkinson’s. So [ ] suffering
is the legacy of the human [condition?]. And, because I am having
such a degree of suffering and physical impotence, I would like
to know what the lesson, the attitude, and is there a possibility
of healing? (Pause)
Michael:
I am with you in your struggles. And I understand the desire of
your heart for healing. This is not a time, however, for your engagement
of doubts about your physical well-being. Your spirit is more valuable
to me than your physical body. Do you see beyond your physical body
into the realm of spirit that you are growing? Do you see this?
(Yes, I do.)
I
had to relinquish my physical body. My Earth career came to an end,
just as yours will. Will you struggle to retain the body you are
in? Or will you be willing to release yourself from it, into a new
life and into a new exploration of a different dimension of reality?
These are questions that you can ponder, and let them digest deeply
within you. I do not want you to answer this now, only to ask if
you understand my meaning. (Yes, I do.) Do you have faith, my child,
that your life will continue?
Student:
Not as much as I would like to have. But I think my attitude is
growing, especially in these sessions.
Jesus:
Where do you find your doubts reside?
Student:
Well, always as far as I know, the only experience is living in
the body. So, relinquishing the body brings up some fears. And also
I am pretty close to my son and my daughter, my children, who will
be very seriously impacted by this. Also I don’t know the
time frame. I don’t know how I should conduct myself, in terms
of my living situation, or diet, or all the normal things one does
when one is alive in a body. How should I conduct myself, in terms
of eating, in terms of sleeping, in terms of activities –
especially since my legs have become less able to move, to perform
locomotion?
Jesus:
Each day you will find new challenges to face. And physically this
will not be an easy time in your life. Therefore, the faith that
you have must be guarded and augmented by your increasing desire
to be led into a new dimension where there is no more disease, where
your body is a vibrant vehicle of mobility. Each day, as you begin
to identify more with the new life that awaits you, your physical
body will have increasing demands and you must guard your health,
and be gentle in your movements, and cautious in your activities.
I would suggest that a private session would address more of your
concerns, as this is the time when we are gathered here for more
discussion than for personal advice. (Yes, I understand). And so,
I ask you now to continue to grow in your understanding of the continuation
of life after the physical body ceases to be. We will discuss more
of your immediate concerns at another time, if you are so desirous
of this.
Student:
I understand, that’s fine.
Jesus:
Draw more in to me each day, and ask for your faith to strengthen
you, as you go through this difficult period in your life. Be in
my peace, my son; and I draw close to you now, to uplift you. (Pause)
Who is next to share?
Student:
Jesus, I would like to speak to you now about an event that took
place in your life that I found inspiring. There were many, in fact
your entire life was inspiring. But this one I just remembered.
I read about it recently, and had forgotten about it. It was when,
after your public life started, you went back home to your hometown,
and spoke in the local synagogue. And there were men that were hired
to ridicule you, and not allow you to bring your light to the congregation
that was there that day. And in the events that unfolded, where
you were physically taken out of the church in your hometown and
threatened to be thrown over a cliff.
I
found this inspiring, because of the humiliation that you endured
from your own people, from the people that you grew up with. I was
saddened when I read that this had to happen to you. But it was
an inspiring event for me to read about this. It helped my love
grow even further for you. I wish your life here could have been
better. But because of the difficulty you endured, it makes my life
so much easier, because of the inspiration that you give me. I wanted
to share that with you.
Jesus:
Human life would have little relevance or meaning without the character-forming
stimulation of adversity. From the overall design of our Father’s
plan, there comes the increasing recognition that the evolutionary
struggle on the worlds of material creature life must evolve through
the march of effort and struggle and challenge. You are not placed
here as a punishment because you are of animal origin. But you are
actually attributed with certain diametrically opposed qualities
that in the tension stimulate growth.
The
ease-seeking animal nature does not relish this, however. Your spiritual
nature will rise to the challenges. Where will you put your attention?
Where will you place your value? Where will you strive for meaning
in your life?
The
challenges that I faced in my life are really not so much more difficult
than yours, albeit the times were certainly very crude and primitive.
But human nature has not changed. There are still people who will
be deriding you for your beliefs, mocking you for your aspirations,
and even trying to eliminate you from speaking your truth.
But
if you identify with that which is true and good within you, then
you have no real need to allow other people to sway you or diminish
your own intrinsic attachment to the spiritual ideals dynamically
growing within you. The more you identify with the spiritual life
as one of effort and challenge and stimulating growth, the easier
it will become to be in those places of challenge and become more
strengthened. So that where you are being asked to exist at that
particular time and place can be one of peace and acceptance, and
thereby feel that sense of ease and effortlessness.
This
is a great paradox to you, I understand. But you are being challenged
now to walk in this path. And you only need to ask me, and to draw
on my life experience, and I will accompany you through that challenge
– whatever the challenge is, wherever you are in life, with
whatever you are facing.
I
ask others now for their comments on this idea. For you all are
faced with certain difficulties and challenges to your own ease
and comfort. So let me hear. Put it out there on the table, and
let us get in the muck and mire of life, and celebrate the human
evolutionary struggle together. (Laughter)
Student:
Jesus, I feel a little more lucky in being able to celebrate tonight.
For instance, as you know, I’m one of those lucky ones who
were the first of the Urantia readers, 29 of us, who went to Nazareth
and Israel; and I can remember the spirit of celebration. These
little children, as we climbed up the pathway to the top of the
town, where right now the trees are even bent over in humility.
And there’s a cistern up there. It may have been up there
in your time. But the fact that so many happy Christians, at the
happiest point in their life, had passed the doorsteps of those
little children who live there right now and right then. They were
just naturally absorbing the spiritual joy of the pilgrims. And,
to me, that is a type of thrill that was almost an unconscious and
super-conscious surprise, when we visited Nazareth and the surrounding
area.
Jesus:
You sensed a closeness with my presence, did you not, at that time?
(Yes, we did.) And do you sense that same closeness now in your
life, regardless of where you are in location to where I lived?
For truly I am there with you now, in spirit beyond any distance,
beyond any time frame, and I ask that you grow more receptive to
this presence you have within you of my being. Just as you experienced
it there, you can experience it here and now. There is no qualitative
distinction, for you are imbued with the Spirit of Truth. Do you
understand my meaning?
Student:
I think I do. I can remember I thought it was the guardian angels
that I was feeling there. And we weren’t so used to thinking
of the Spirit of Truth. As you know, we tended to try to get in
touch with our Thought Adjusters. But I can clearly remember that
feeling. I am glad it was the Spirit of Truth. I’m sure the
guardian angels were there, but I appreciate that distinction.
Jesus:
There is no separation between us. Recall how you experienced that
moment when you were there, and I am there with you. And carry that
with you as a treasure to know that you once walked where I walked.
And you now walk with me, each moment of each day. Be in my peace,
my son.
Student:
Yes, Jesus, regarding in the mire and the human drama that we all
are a part of; when one is a father, there is a lot of drama involved
in that, in raising two children by oneself. And so there’s
a lot of drama in that, and a lot of concern for the growth of each
child, and wanting to give each child as much as possible, and to
love them as much as possible. And to also let them go, when the
time is right. It is a difficult task, at times, knowing when to
let go and when to hold them back.
And
at times it’s heart-rendering watching them, especially my
daughter; because she is so empathetic and so compassionate, so
loving and nurturing. And I want so much for her to experience the
joy and peace that I have come to know. And I give her little tidbits
of that, just by being true to her. So, I am so blessed with them,
and my son; because I probably wouldn’t be here today if it
wasn’t for them.
As
I move on, some other things that bother me is how people’s
distortions or unsavoriness can pervade other people’s live
– good-natured people. And I just, sometimes it just seems
so unnecessary, the suffering that we have, that we experience,
because someone doesn’t understand what being human is all
about. And I just wonder what it must be like for you, when you
were here, to be in that place of absolute certainty of who you
are; to have that complete, undeniable, non-doubting faith –
despite all the dramatic and all the chaos and all the misperceptions
and distortions around you. That is the place I wish to come from
in every moment, and wish to empart upon my children, as well. Thank
you.
Jesus:
I did not shy from the unsavoriness of the human condition. No,
my son, I place myself squarely in front of it; and asked the Father’s
light and the Father’s love and the Father’s truth to
shine upon all the ugliness that I saw in front of me and to make
it whole. Are you up to this challenge? For this is what you must,
too, face in front of you if you wish to achieve the degree of faith
that is consistent with living as a true faith son of the Father.
You
are the salt that can add the savor in one of your brother’s
or sister’s lives. Are you up to the challenge? If so, then
be willing to stand up against all that you see as unsavory. Let
your beauty and your truth come so magnified that it begins to compel
another person by its very goodness to seek and to become that goodness
itself. When you confront this unsavoriness, draw on all the powers
of Heaven that you have available. Ask for the Father’s love
and the Father’s light and the Father’s purity to cut
through to the very essence of truth – and to magnify that
– so that all of the dirt and the darkness will fade away.
Is this something that interests you?
Student:
Very much so. I just get tired of seeing people unnecessarily suffer
because of others, whether it be well-intentioned or not. It’s
so unnecessary.
Jesus:
But it is necessary. For this is how you grow, and this is how you
can change situations. This is all part of the evolutionary struggle
– for the imperfect to become perfect, for the truth to overshadow
the error, for the goodness to triumph over the evil. Yes, this
is necessary, and the strength that comes by not losing perspective
of the imperfect nature of the world and why it must be this.
What
role will you play in turning this around? Gird yourself. There
are many challenges ahead of you. This life is not for the faint-hearted.
It is easy to become tired. It is easy to give up, to lose focus,
to diminish your spiritual reserves. This is why your teachers have
come to teach you the practice of stillness – to give you
that time and instruction, to be with the Father to strengthen you
and support you to live on this very challenging planet.
And
you who are here have agreed to help in this correcting time. And
you need to be strengthened and whole and courageous and committed
and compassionate – to love one another and to serve one another
through all the darkness and ugliness of human depravity. Again,
if this is something that interests you and you are up to the challenge,
you have all of the weapons and tools you need to help you, to keep
you strengthened.
The
question is, will you learn to master these tools? And to use them
artfully and skillfully in relating to your brothers and sisters?
This is a question I ask each of you tonight, as you think about
the meaning of my life during this time of celebration. (Pause)
It puts quite a damper on things, doesn’t it? (Laughter; one
student says, but not your sense of humor, though.)
Student:
Jesus, I had very wonderful loving parents, and so Christmas, to
me, was always a marvelous time; beyond all the childish greed at
what we might be getting. It was always just a very magical time
of everybody having a good excuse to be really nice to each other.
But when I encountered the Urantia Book, it was probably when I
was at my most distant reach from Christianity; and there was even
a big part of me to even read the book when I heard it had something
to do with Jesus.
But
then the book touched my heart. It is not an intellectual thing
for me. And the part of the book that seemed to stress over and
over again that we were all touched with infinity, we grew polliwogs,
as Welmek calls us, our [?] with infinity, every moment. And it
seemed that toward the end of your life, when you knew full well
what you were facing, which is a day of death we call ‘terrorism’
now. It’s a way of killing someone, designed to terrorize
everybody else around. That the book exists, that you never ever
lost your freedom, through it all. So I salute you, as much as I
can.
Jesus:
And I thank you: for your heartfelt words, and for your willingness
to look at that aspect of my life and realize that through faith
there is freedom – freedom to choose how you will react to
any situation, freedom to transcend the mere chaos and depravity
of evil, to step into the realm where the Father lifts you into
the new life, into the spirit where all things are good and beautiful.
You cannot know exactly how that will feel until you walk through
the very mist of great despair and evil. You must begin to glimpse
through the eyes of faith what is awaiting you on the other side:
that which can cut through the darkness and be the lifeline extending
out to you, to bring you in to the new way, to the new truth, the
new life.
If
you have the faith to see this, then you will also see the liberty
that comes in choosing to walk through the darkness with hope and
courage. Always is the light more brilliant than the darkness. But
you must choose to see it with your faith eyes, otherwise the light
will be obscured by material darkness. Your challenge, my friend,
is to always see the challenges with the faith eyes. But you can
begin to pierce through the veil that the darkness imposes, and
glimpse the light that exposes the darkness and beckons you into
the future.
Each
of you here has the potential to live in this light, to live in
this faith. My life revealed how it is possible for you to choose
this. And if it is difficult for you to see this when you are in
the midst of a situation, you only have to call on me and I will
walk through the darkness with you – and expose you to the
light, as we move into the new way together. Each of you has access
to this. And I promise that you will be with me as we do this together.
Student:
Well, Jesus, I guess it’s my turn to speak up. I remember
the question was how does each of us relate to you, particularly
in this season where your life is celebrated. I’d like to
pick up on a couple of aspects. One is your humor, and I think I
want to call it craftiness. Your humorous kind of craftiness. The
reason I’m bringing that up is: I’ve only been involved
with the Urantia Book and this particular group of people and intense
activity for five months now, a very short time. And yet, in the
wake of answering this question, I’m recalling that it actually
has been quite a few years since this process got started overtly.
So
I go back to the time in October or November of 1971, in Boston
where I fasted on no water and no food all day, in order to have
a vision of you. I didn’t know why, except that it was in
a place called Hippocrates Health Institute, where I was volunteering,
and part of what they did there was worship under the title Rising
Sun Christianity. And it was sun spelled s-u-n. And I just kind
of came to it in all naivete from my Jewish background, and participated
a couple of times, with no special feeling. I just kind of knew
that I’m there, and so I fasted that day. And you appeared
to me in an image, and that was all. No voice.
And
then, a few months later I was in Florida, and this young fellow
in an ashram I was in said he was studying the Urantia Book. And
I took a look at it and I saw all these big words and I said ‘that’s
not for me.’ So, for 30 years I went along outside of that
specific guidance. And yet, as I look at the path that I was on,
my yoga training and being a Sikh, I see the enormous parallels
in everything that I did – that it was another form of growth.
So
here I am now, in answering this question, and I am listening to
you and I would just like to say that my response at this time as
to how I relate to you is that I have asked for you to permeate
me in every cell of my being, that I see your life as a perfect
example of how to be a human being on this planet, and that I draw
you as my most exquisite example. So I want to be like you.
And
therefore I invite you – and have invited you – 100
per cent into me; and I have requested that I am 100 per cent in
you, which is also 100 per cent in the Father and the Mother Spirit.
So I am very happy that all that has accrued, although in a sense
on earthly terms and times it has been somewhat of a long time.
So
I am not worried so much anymore about chronological time. I am
just here and doing the work of the Father, as you have inspired
us to do. And I’m just raring to go further, and very much
enjoying the experience and the other information that is being
revealed to me step by step every day – especially prayer
and worship and being in fellowship with the incredible beings that
are around in me in this room and in the other places that I am
associating with. It’s enormously gratifying and humbling.
So that’s my thanks to everybody and to you.
Jesus:
You are welcome. But there is more to add. It gladdens my heart,
as I recall my human life, to hear your words. For this was what
my intention was, to reveal to all humanity how to live a Father-inspired
life. And if my life is the inspiration for you now, then I have
done my job. And if you live your life so as to inspire another
individual, then you have done your job. And this is all that we
ask of you – is to live faithfully each day as this human
being that you are becoming: being more real, being your own sense
of Father-likeness that reflects your own individual personality.
What more can we ask, what more is there to ask of you? You see,
my children, how much help you are given, how much inspiration you
have been accorded. And so we give you the tools and the ideas and
the instruction and the inspiration, and what you do with it is
up to you.
I
honor all of your attempts to grow spiritually. I celebrate with
you the life that you are leading and growing and becoming. For
you, too, are becoming the light of the world. You, too, are becoming
the inspiration for your fellows. You, too, are becoming the peace
that will soon permeate your planet, the more each one of your brothers
and sisters grows, and the more you reach out in service –
to love and to nurture, to inspire and to kindle the fan of faith
that lives within each of them.
We
are all the light of the world. We are all the hope of the future.
You are all in me, and I am in each one of you. Together, as
we celebrate this season of birth, of promise, of hope, let
us draw in our collective potential to transform this planet
into the shrine, into the sentimental birthplace, of how humanity
can become Father-like
– and how the Father’s love lives in each one of you
and all of us, and brings into the hearts of all the peoples on
Urantia a new dawn of brotherhood and peace, love and freedom,
and joy in being children of our Paradise Father of us all. Merry
Christmas.
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