1999-09-29-Citizenship
Butler PA #71
Contents
• 1 Heading
o 1.1 Topic: Citizenship
o 1.2 Group: Butler TeaM
• 2 Facilitators
o 2.1 Teacher: Tomas
o 2.2 TR: Gerdean
• 3 Session
o 3.1 Lesson
o 3.2 Closing
Topic: Citizenship
Group: Butler TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Tomas
TR: Gerdean
Session
Lesson
THOROAH: I have a couple of questions that have been e-mailed for you and this student says to “send Tomas his fondest regards, even his love.”
TOMAS: : I have received his love and I embrace his spirit even now. I am glad for his return.
THOROAH: His first question is: “If friendship is known by the affection to those we extend, is citizenship the exercise of our devotion to those we have only yet to befriend?”
TOMAS: : Again.
THOROAH: “If friendship is known by the affection to those we extend, is citizenship the exercise of our devotion to those we have only yet to befriend?”
TOMAS: : It could be interpreted thus, yes, but I would like to dwell a moment on the concept of citizenship, for when we extend ourselves to others in friendship we have extended ourselves in love, and the result is relatively immediate because friendship is an end in itself. But citizenship connotes a larger body, a vaster family, and may or may not relate simply to your town, your country, or even your world, but into the universe.
It is my response, then, that your manifestation of friendship to the universe is indeed an extension of your own love for Father into the acts which will enhance the developing Supreme. For although the relationship with your cosmic fellow citizens is a reality, it is also, personally speaking, only in its infancy, in its potential state, whereas, in your attempt to offer friendship as a citizen, you are offering to assist in the growth of divinity.
And so yes, you could say your statement is true, but it was deserving of some expansion. Has this served to satisfy or to stimulate my long distance friend? And what is his second question?
THOROAH: The second question is quite long and complex
TOMAS: : Very well. Read the entire paragraph.
THOROAH: Okay. “Is it a great knowledge whose survey of fact extends from the deepest particle of matter to the borders of a master universe? Or, is it a greater knowledge which penetrates the depth of a single human heart and there discovers the meaning of friendship? Or, is it the greatest knowledge which feels the value of divine love which holds in perfect poise the personal and the mechanical. But then, does not wisdom bind these mere forms of knowing with the ease of a Mother gathering her children to greet the return of their Father from a long journey? And the song she sings as she runs to greet him, is it not the literature of all ages? Who then is her lover, friend and husband, is it not Philosophy?”
TOMAS: : Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. But! Let me not abort your fellowship so succinctly. Let us review these individually. Would you, Thoroah, present the first question singly?
THOROAH: “Is it a great knowledge whose survey of fact extends from the deepest particle of matter to the borders of a master universe?”
TOMAS: : It is indeed a great knowledge, one which is beyond our comprehension. Indeed it is only within the mind of God that these myriad details of the mechanical universe are known, are upheld, are existent. To have knowledge is indeed a great thing, but, as you suggest, it is not only knowledge which is of value, but what else? Friendship. The second question, Thoroah?
THOROAH: “Or is it a greater knowledge which penetrates the depth of a single human heart and there discovers the meaning of friendship?”
TOMAS: : Yes, indeed! Conscious contact with another in affection of a divine nature is a value which could be said to transcend the mere mechanical knowledge of the physical existence of the universe. However! Try having a friendship without the material universe. You won’t have a leg to stand on. And the next question?
THOROAH: “Or is it the greatest knowledge which feels the value of divine love which holds in perfect poise the personal and the mechanical?”
TOMAS: : Well certainly this incorporation of two great realities is an essential whole, balanced in cosmic poise and resulting in friendship with oneself, one’s environment, and one’s associates. This is multi-dimensional, therefore vaster and more satisfying than merely an emotional or physical existence. Always in bringing in the spirit is the physical enhanced and the emotional pruned. What’s next?
THOROAH: “But then does not wisdom bind these mere forms of knowing with the ease of a Mother gathering her children to greet the return of their Father from a long journey? And the song she sings as she runs to greet him, is it not the literature of the ages?”
TOMAS: : You are writing literature as you write your question, and so you have proven the point that when you pose a thought, you have couched your soul in words, which, if properly phrased, is indeed elemental literature. Wisdom certainly have all of these realities enmeshed sufficiently as to bring about a divine pattern, one which our Mother would be involved in upholding, and as a consort for her bridegroom, would indeed be a song to sing, a tale to tell, an understanding of relative wisdom based upon the statute of the holy family and their place in the universe. Yes, indeed. High art. And finally?
THOROAH: “Who then is her lover, friend and husband? Is it not Philosophy?”
TOMAS: Of course it is philosophy. How can it be other when we are only saplings? When we become adults and stand before our Parents, fully actualized, it will not be philosophy but reality, and yet until actuality is attained, it is philosophy that we purport in our dealings with one another.
Even so, my son, let us not overlook the inherent value of living faith, that vital spark which enables us to rise above our thoughts, our minds, our matter, our emotions, our literature, our wisdom, our philosophy, our very worlds, to that place within which is an aspect of divinity, indeed, an infinitesimal part of Divinington. We thus are created as a microcosm of eternal perfection, and in our relative perfection, we are able to glimpse instances of reality which are beyond our ability to put into words, to set down in literature, or to portray in philosophy.
And this is why it is said that we cannot live up to our ideals for they always precede us. The Father indwelling is pre-personal and his devotion to our growth and development is the bait that keeps us asking questions and ascending into greater and greater actuality.
Closing
TOMAS: And how I have enjoyed your presence here with us this evening in and through your words and your sensitivities. You are well loved. Have we anything else this evening?
