2003-01-24. Role of Prophet
SE Idaho #44
Topic: Role of Prophet
Group: SE Idaho TeaM
Teacher: Gabriel, Minearisa
TR: Bill K.
Opening
Virginia: God, help us to be instruments of Your peace, instruments of Your love, instruments of Your hope, faith, and care for everyone on this planet. Amen.
Gabriel (Bill): Greetings from Universe headquarters. I am Gabriel. It is a pleasure to be in your company, my friends, and to sit among you as one divine Son with my fellow sons and daughters. Yes, you may be surprised to hear from me. But, upon reflection, you should not be; for you have heard from my Father and your Father many times as His Spirit is present in your minds. I am referring to Michael of Nebadon. It is part of my rounds of administrative duty to be in touch with all the myriad of inhabited planets in our Universe, not the least of which is Urantia of Satania. I would like to share my feelings and impressions of the progress on your world at this time of epochal significance.
Lesson
Leadership, Seers
There are many who are protesting the old ways of thinking among your fellows. The evidence of social evolution on this planet is attested to by the protest against limiting options and choices to the past. Fewer and fewer people are saying, “We have always had wars, and we always shall”. You are among these protesters. Remember the word, “protest”, has a positive meaning or significance as well as a negative. You are stating in protest what you are in favor of, which is to open the options of choice to the widest possible view, to expand the parameters of consideration to include alternate and better methods of human interconnectedness.
The wheels of progress turn slowly and the wheels that grind the grain turn slowly. But their progress is indisputable. Most Urantians suffer from shortsightedness and the limitations of their personal histories. If you could obtain a larger view of this planet’s history, you would be indelibly impressed with the reality of social and spiritual evolution. Your excellent teachers have brought you a long way from the start of your training to the point where you now reside. You have covered enormous ground conceptually and considerable ground experientially. Always must your conceptions and ideals be greater than your experience in order to continue to motivate you to progress. In discussing prayer and in Daniel’s address it was stated and underlined that prayer has influence and is not simply an auto-suggestive ritual. The Urantia Book stresses the aspect of self improvement that results from prayer that is lofty and altruistic in nature; but it is also true that your prayers for progress, for spiritual evolution and for the coming for the Kingdom of God are very efficacious. They are of great value!
So, we observe that on Urantia there is a heightening drama of the forces of change as they are engaged with the forces of the status quo, whether that arena be political, economic, moral, or spiritual. The lethargy of the comfort of doing things as they have always been done is being dramatically challenged. People are saying, “Enough is enough! It’s time to change direction”.
In every generation there have been prophets, those who are far seeing, and who speak for the Divine. Their words usually fall on deaf ears until later years reveal how accurate and truthful were their assessments. You have many role models in these prophetic voices. They have a great potential influence to bear upon the current events of your world at this time. And, there are new prophets who are arising to continue this tradition of speaking for the Divine. Now I tell you something that may somewhat embarrass you. You are included in this new prophetic tradition. Can you accept that reality? Are you willing to speak God’s word to this generation? Are you putting your money where your mouth is? Yes, Gabriel, you answer, we are; or at least we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. We desire to be free of the fear of criticism. We desire to be free of the guilt of our self assessment of the past. We are willing to be ambassadors for the coming age of Light and Life. We are willing. May God give us the strength to follow through on our commitment.
Spend no time challenging the idea that you can fulfill this. Do not battle with internal doubting. Give it up. Let it go! Turn your eyes away from yourselves to the glorious image of Jesus of Nazareth as he, with singleness of purpose, trusted his life into the care of his Father, wanting only and supremely to do His will. The will of the Father is better than any plan that you can imagine and always embraces your highest desires and your competence to complete them. The Father within you is your real Self. In being willing to do the will of that Spirit Fragment, what you are really willing is to become the Self that is your potential. The Father of Universes, the Creator of Galaxies, is also your closest friend. He is within you as one who is closer than someone standing at your elbow. He is like the breath that you breathe in. He is like the energy that courses through your hands. He is You to be. You shall be completely one someday with Him.
All of this struggle, all of this decision making, all of this effort has immense value, for in it you learn the experiences which you shall apply in the future as you serve the Supreme. And so my friends, my fellow brothers and sisters, I tell you that your joy shall be overflowing when you understand more fully how you are, indeed, cosmic citizens and how your earthly lives have assisted in the advancement of Urantia, forward toward its goal of Light and Life. I have concluded my words to you. I now step aside for Daniel and Minearisa to allow you a time of interaction. One moment, please.
Minearisa (Bill): Dear students, I am Minearisa, your Instructor in Residence. We are honored to have Gabriel with us today to address us. I sense that there are thoughts in your minds which you would like to express. Now I will turn over the time to you for comments, questions, etc. The floor is yours.
Dialogue
Correcting Time
Bob D.: I guess the thought that was in my mind…good evening Minearisa…I was trying to follow everything, so I am not sure that I have all of Gabriel’s comments completely. I just want to pick a thought that I have been having for the last year or so…the idea that it seems like we have through our choices been given this great opportunity to have interaction with teachers and to some extent each of us in our individual lives do things and make attempts to share things you have taught us with other people. I have often wondered about whether there is a value in collective purpose within the mission; or whether it is really an individual mission, and that’s what the purpose is. In the context of that, the question what I am pondering is that this is a critical point in the history of this planet. Maybe it isn’t, but it just seems like it. It seems like leadership is really needed in so many areas.
I wonder sometimes about having a group of people within the mission start a dialogue about how to solve certain problems in the world, economic, environmental and really to talk about these including teacher input philosophically, intellectually addressing some of these issues and trying to come up with ideas for solutions that might be fresh or new. Yet, I have never really come out on the list and said, “Hey, does anybody want to do this?” because any time you start to do something everybody says, “Oh, God, this guy is half cocked”. So I guess the question I am having is whether something like what we have been given, each of us in the group we have had, to combine that in some sort of a method to try to….I don’t know exactly what I am asking. The idea that inspired this is the statement in the Urantia Book that talks about a new enlarged philosophy of living that someday will emerge. I guess if you want to comment on the ideas I have, it would be greatly appreciated.
Minearisa (Bill): Thank you, my son, for putting into words what many people are pondering. The concerns that you have expressed that you are wondering how to deal with are major components of the Correcting Time. They do involve much more than “spiritual growth”. The Correcting Time is more than a spiritual mission and therefore is akin to the First Epochal Revelation of the Planetary Prince because it was the rebellion of that administration followed by the default of the Adamic bestowal that has led to the need for this time of correction. We Melchizedeks are very concerned that there be leadership in these areas. While we have relied on the Destiny Reservists in the past, who were largely unconscious of their role, now that things are becoming more conscious in many mortals’ minds as well as clear to you who have information at a higher level, there is certainly a place for this kind of discussion which you have proposed.
It is true that the Teaching Mission is primarily about individual spiritual growth. But we have never said that this is all that it is about. We have said that the leavening of society will be only effective when it comes from inner spiritual growth. From our perspective we also agree that this is a crisis time on your planet. As Gabriel of Salvington, our Bright and Morning Star said, it is an engagement of new ways of thinking and acting with the lethargy and inertia of the old ways. So, I would say that all of us celestials on the other side of your visible curtain cheer you on in any attempt that you make to discuss these issues which are on your minds.
The twofold nature of spiritual progress has always been a reality: the individual spiritual progress; and then the societal including the social, political, economic, moral and spiritual evolution. Religions of the Christian variety have often split these two apart. On the one hand personal salvation is focused on in one group while the other focuses on social issues of justice in the societal arena. We are seeing a uniting of these two things which is our directional purpose, to bring the two together so that the true spiritual individual transformation may make effective the transformation of society. While it is not my place to officially grant you permission to proceed with your project, as you must get that from your own guidance, I will certainly say that I am in support of your concept. Have I responded adequately to your question?
Bob D.: Probably. You mentioned that the teachers’ mission is more than a spiritual mission, more like the Planetary Prince who was to uplift different areas of the world…
Minearisa: . ..the Correcting Time’s mission.[Ed note: Not the Teaching Mission]
Bob D.: Okay. In a sense, then, if a group of people were having a dialogue like that, would there be an avenue of insight that you or some agencies could offer on methods or ways other than spiritual, such as political, economic? I know the Urantia Book speaks of government on a neighboring planet as a model. I guess I am asking if you would actually participate in a process like that? Or would you be simply looking to uplift our spiritual side and not really want to endeavor the other side?
Minearisa: What I am hearing you ask for is a return of the Adamic administration.
Bob D.: Please!
Minearisa: . ..which would be an ideal avenue for what you are asking. It has not been determined to what extent we are able to interact with the political, economic, etc.,areas. Your request has been voiced by others in their prayers. I am authorized only to tell you that these things are under consideration. That is all I can say.
Virginia: Minearisa, as Gabriel was speaking and asking us to be prophets for change in regard to the status quo I thought of the time many years ago that a teacher asked if we were ready for change…
Ken: Daniel Virginia: Thank you very much. (Laughter) And my immediate reaction was “no”! I felt threatened, I am positive. Yet I know that the status quo is in need of change. We have got to find justice for all people on this planet so we can have peace. I know that the prophets of the Old Testament were not respected. Some of them were killed. I don’t imagine that this is going to be our role here, and yet I think speaking out against the status quo is very difficult because we don’t want to be…prophet seems like a very austere word to me. Couldn’t we just be planetary citizens and be willing to speak our mind or something as graciously as we can? Here I am again. I am ready for change. I certainly want it; and I know that I know how to stick out my neck and protest for things. Yet, I make myself very confused. Isn’t it plain that I am confused?
Minearisa: May I interpret your words, please?
Virginia: If you understood them, wonderful.
Minearisa: First of all you said that your initial answer to Daniel’s question was “no”. But now you are alluding to the fact that you have permitted change in your life personally. You have lost a measure of fear of standing in public for what you believe; and yet the fear is still there to some degree, especially when you think of the word, “prophet”, as a martyr, someone who will be stoned or shot as Martin Luther King Jr. was.
The fact of the matter is that no one is being forced to be a prophet. This is not a calling that is “laid upon you”, even though the words of the ancient prophets gave that impression. Always was free will respected. As the desire to speak for God grows it may feel like a fire in the bones, as it did to the prophets of old. But this is not the result of a superimposition of spiritual pressure which overwhelms your will and causes you to do that of which you are terrified. Yes, you may be fearful; but you will be in good company. If you choose to be prophetic, it is your choice. Gabriel was just speaking the obvious, that the need for prophecy, which is to speak for God or for the Divine. is apparent in every age. Right now, in crisis, it is especially called for. My dear, you have changed your mind about change and you are a cosmic citizen speaking in those terms. What makes you think you are not a prophet?
Virginia: I think, the word, “prophet”, is the problem. I don’t want to take any more time, Minearisa. Thank you very much.
Minearisa: My opinion is that you are.
Virginia: Thank you.
Teaching Mission, Seers
Nancy: Thank you for the opportunity for this conversation. I would like to respond as much to Bob’s comments as to Gabriel’s. In fact, while listening to Gabriel, I went into such a deep place that when I came back up again, I couldn’t remember what had been said. I remembered a couple things that I was triggered by. Bob, when you asked your question I had a reaction that I would like to ask you about, Minearisa. I thought to myself, “Well the Teaching Mission within the Correcting Time is about family. It is about learning functional family systems that support individuals in their individual endeavors of social and economic reform. I saw the Teaching Mission sitting within the larger Correcting Time.
The Teaching Mission is the functional family that supports, that guides us, and helps us to become whatever our niche is. I was thinking about the prophecy and initially had that same flash of fear that my mother responded to that sense of martyrdom. I was thinking about the board of directors that I sit on and how that I feel that it is a key position I am put there in for more than my individual learning purposes. Every time I go to those meetings I feel like I am dressing up in those clothes and playing “dress up”, so I know there is an individual component to my growth. But I am quite sure that I am not there just to learn to fill bigger shoes and be comfortable; that the functional family of the Teaching Mission is to help carry forth my role in the greater Correcting Time; that I don’t need to stand in a board meeting and talk about God.
What I need to talk about is how God’s will would play out in that situation. I don’t have to have a discussion that causes people to think I am crazy, because that would make me ineffective. My initial feeling was that if I go out and start talking about God, people are just going to write me off as a crazy person and I would lose complete effectiveness. So I think that I was hearing that what I need to do is speak the truth of the impact on people of particular policies. [Ed. Note: Nancy is referring to energy policies] That would be my niche. We all have our different niches. We know when it is right to talk about God and God’s love and direction. We know when it is right to use completely different language, always looking to God as our guide for truth, beauty, and goodness as to what we speak. I was wondering if you would react to that, please?
Minearisa: My dear, I understand your point of view and I fully agree with you. It would be an error if the Teaching Mission lost its focus on spiritual growth in an attempt to formulate political, economic, or other social policies. For then it would be replicating the mistakes that have been made in the history of Christianity in particular. It is, of course, a clear concept in the Urantia Book that churches should not form themselves in these sorts of alliances, otherwise they just become social reform societies. The emphasis, as you have described it, is for each person through their spiritual growth to fit themselves into society with their expertise and apply that spiritual pressure, that moral pressure, to that area of their interest.
My response to Bob earlier was that he should pursue a conversation with others who have these interests. As a free will mortal, it is his privilege.
Nancy: May I interject? I was certainly not suggesting that he shouldn’t or that it was wrong. I guess I was thinking that discussion might lead to something or they might not, but that wouldn’t be the purpose of the Teaching Mission itself. Certainly if he feels guided then there is purpose and he should. I wasn’t suggesting not. It was a flash of how the Teaching Mission fits within the Correcting Time.
Minearisa: Yes, I understand that you are not being critical of Bob’s desire to discuss these things. You are voicing a concern that the Mission not be deflected into becoming a social program of some sort or another.
Nancy: I just think that is not what it is.
Minearisa: Very well, my friends, I will encourage you and Bob and any others to carry on this conversation outside of this meeting time, for we are limited by our strictures of time.
I sense that the word, “prophet” has aroused anxieties in many of you. I suggest that you should take some time to study the whole idea of being a prophet. It is not just someone who forecasts the future as a soothsayer, at all. It is someone who discerns the signs of the times, that understands the meaning of events in the present moment and understands it from the divine perspective. This is what a prophet understands. Then, such a one shares that information in whatever way his or her guidance leads. Is there one more question of our guest speaker this evening? Or shall we conclude our meeting?
Nancy: I would just like to say thank you for that description of prophecy. I don’t think I communicated very well with you, but that was in part what I was wanting to check out and that has been answered. I thank you and I thank Gabriel for the privilege and the honor in the title, rather than the embarrassment. I do not find it embarrassing. I find it buoying.
Minearisa: Thank you for your feedback, PamElla. It is nice to have you in our presence again. Virginia, you wanted to say something?
Virginia: No. I was commenting. I heard what Nancy had said and just clarified in my mind that the term, “prophet”, to her was buoying.
Closing
Minearisa: Well, let us stand and hold hands as we conclude.
Gabriel: I am Gabriel. Let us worship God.
Oh Sovereign of the Universes, Who gives to each Michael Son the chance to reproduce the glory of Paradise and Havona, I thank You for these faithful friends, these fellow servants, these sons and daughters, who have just begun their journey toward You, the Source of all. I thank you that they are willing to listen, to believe that they hear words from on high, to know by experience that our Master Son is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for them to live and show to others. May they all be strengthened by this gathering tonight and as they leave may their joy flow out to embrace all they come in contact with. In the name of Michael, my Sovereign and their Sovereign. Amen.
